5 January 2009
Immediate release

LABOUR DEMANDS ACTION AS SALT SUPPLIES IN DUMFRIES AND GALLOWAY REACH CRITICAL LEVELS

Local Labour politicians are alarmed by the critically low amount of salt left in the region, after Dumfries and Galloway Council admitted this afternoon (Monday 5 Jan) that supplies were down to under 300 tonnes – barely one day’s supply.

Dumfries MSP Elaine Murray has described the situation as an “emergency” and has called on the Scottish Government to stop “the ridiculous charade that everything is fine” and provide immediate assistance. She also says it is essential that lessons are learned and the inflexible supply chain is radically improved.

“These are tough conditions and council staff have been working heroically around the clock but they’ve been let down by a supply chain that is not flexible enough to cope with prolonged periods of extreme weather.

“The problem is the supplier has not been delivering sufficient salt for the council and we are now at critically low levels. This is now an emergency and unless we get immediate help from the Scottish Government we will run out of salt. We need clear leadership from the Scottish Government but that has been woefully lacking. It is farcical for John Swinney to continue the ridiculous charade that everything is fine and we have plenty of salt, when the reality is we’re almost out of supplies.

“The priority now has to be to get salt into Dumfries and Galloway. Once this weather is over it is essential we learn lessons from it, as it will happen again. We need far better contingency planning and a shake up of the contractual arrangements that supply local councils with salt. The council has a contract that isn’t being fulfilled and it is unacceptable that we can be in the position of running out of salt.

“I will be pursing this as a matter of urgency with the Government and I will be pressing Ministers on the issue later this week.”

Local MP Russell Brown is demanding answers over why the Scottish Government failed to take sufficient action to secure salt supplies in Dumfries and Galloway and across Scotland.

Russell Brown said, “Most minor roads and many pavements across our region are in a dangerous condition, with virtually no prospects of them getting treated even though there’s more arctic weather on the way.

“It looks increasingly clear that the Scottish Government has been caught napping. While John Swinney has been telling us there’s plenty of salt to go round, the reality is we are at crisis point in Dumfries and Galloway with only one day’s supply left.

“The Scottish Government has failed to take sufficient action to ensure we had enough salt in Dumfries and Galloway and across Scotland to get us through this prolonged cold snap. Now it is local people who are suffering from the Scottish Government’s failure to get their act together as they are forced to brave the treacherous conditions on untreated roads and pavements.

“The Scottish Government needs to stop pretending there is no problem and start waking up to the danger roads and pavements are posing to people in Dumfries and Galloway.”

Meanwhile, Labour Councillors have accused Dumfries and Galloway Council of lacking political leadership during the crisis. The council's response will be the subject of a report to the next meeting of full council and the opposition Labour Group will be demanding answers on a range of failings including:-

- late initial gritting, despite adverse weather being forecast
- lack of information provided to the public or councillors between 30 December and 4 January
- not announcing until late Monday afternoon that re-opening of schools would be delayed by at least a day, resulting in many parents and teachers only receiving notice by "group text" late on Monday night
- an investigation into whether the council's contract from Amey Highways to grit trunk roads such as the M74 results in the council directing resources to grit trunk roads which are ultimately the responsibility of the Scottish Government, ahead of gritting council roads.

The Group also want a complete review of the council's response, including a massive expansion of grit boxes placed in communities for local use and an increase in the use of local contractors to support council gritters when council resources are stretched during adverse weather.

Nith Ward Labour Councillor Colin Smyth said, "Local people accept that although the Council were slow off the mark, staff have been working flat out in adverse conditions to keep priority routes open. But there is no doubt that they, and the public, are being let down by the complete lack of political leadership during this crisis. It is like groundhog day. Just as there was a lack of coordination of the council's response and no information was provided to the public or councillors during the recent flooding crisis, it is happening all over again.

“The leader of the council should have made sure that the corporate council were providing information to the public and councillors during the holiday period and should have been banging on the door of the Scottish Government before now about salt supplies, not waiting until after the holiday when we have just one days supply left. He should have immediately overturned the botched decision to tell the public they could only use council bin bags for excess rubbish caused by the council's failure to uplift wheelie bins. It is simply not good enough. When a crisis like this happens there needs to be a whole council wide emergency response with every resource possible being deployed not just one department scrambling around in isolation. What is so frustrating is that there were complaints last year about the council's response, yet the administration failed to act and gave no priority to learning lessons and making improvements for this year.

“The council needs to start to think more out of the box to find solutions. For example, if the council can only cope with priority routes, why can't we use local contractors to grit other routes? Why do so few areas have grit bins in their street so local people can help keep their own street clear and why are grit bins outside council facilities sitting unused? "

ENDS

CONTACT – ANDREW MACKENZIE 07769206856